1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic mail processing systems, and relates more particularly to a system and method for incorporating image data into electronic mail documents.
2. Description of the Background Art
Implementing an efficient and effective method for incorporating image data into electronic documents is a significant consideration of system designers and manufacturers. However, the techniques available to incorporate the image data are often difficult or cumbersome to utilize.
With the increased use of the Internet as a means for communication, the use of electronic mail (e-mail) for business and personal communications has rapidly increased. Because traditional e-mail systems have been text based rather than graphics based, however, consumers have sometimes been reluctant to use e-mail instead of traditional means of communication, such as telephones and letters.
For example, consumers often desire the ease of including pictures with a letter, combined with the immediate communication afforded by a telephone conversation. Although traditional e-mail systems offer the immediate communication of the telephone, they do not offer an easy method for including a picture with the communication. Consumers may desire the ability to include a picture of a graduation ceremony or birthday celebration together with a communication, so that the picture is displayed concurrently with their discussion of the event. As another example, consumers may desire to easily and quickly include directions to a party, or to their home, in the form of hand-drawn maps included directly within the e-mail document.
E-mail system developers have attempted to meet consumer demands by allowing graphic data (i.e., pictures) to be included with e-mail messages in the form of attachments or separate files. Thus, to send a picture with an e-mail message, the system user is typically required to load or input the picture into the computer by the use of a scanner or a video input device. The system user must then convert the picture into a format suitable for attachment to the e-mail document, and then electronically attach the picture to the e-mail document. After the system user finishes creating the e-mail document, the e-mail software converts both text and picture (as separate files) into a suitable format for transmission over a networked source such as the Internet, and then transmits the files to a selected designation.
Once the e-mail document is received, the viewer of the e-mail document must then decode the picture in order to view it. In the typical e-mail processing software, the e-mail software automatically performs the decoding process. However, the attached picture still remains a separate file from the e-mail document and is only "linked" to the e-mail document by some electronic means. To view the attached pictures, the viewer must start a separate, program that displays the attached pictures.
The traditional process for including pictures in an e-mail document requires expensive equipment. In addition, the process is cumbersome and time consuming. The process requires extra equipment to load or input the picture into the e-mail system, and separate computer programs to convert the pictures into a size and format suitable for manipulation by the e-mail system. In addition, because the picture file is always a separate file from the e-mail document, the picture file may be lost or not properly "linked" to the e-mail document at any point in the process. This results in the viewer not being able to view the picture as intended by the sender.
Thus, the foregoing problems present significant obstacles to effectively implementing an efficient method for incorporating image data into electronic documents.